Man rescued from Hoffman Estates pond after ice breaks
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A trio of Hoffman Estates police officers and one of the town's top firefighters helped rescue a man who'd fallen into a partially frozen pond early Saturday, authorities said.
The man, whose identity was not released, fell through the ice over a pond near a hotel on the 2800 block of Greenspoint Parkway.
The man was walking across the pond shortly before 1 a.m. when the ice broke and he plunged into the water, about 20 feet from the shoreline, according to a news release.
After someone called 911, police Sgt. Mark Mueller and officers Jim Johnson and Rodney Penrod got to the pond first and worked to get the man out of the water.
Johnson had thrown the man a rescue disk attached to a line, and the officers were pulling him from the water when firefighters arrived.
They were joined by Hoffman Estates Battalion Chief Thomas Mackie, who helped grab the man by the arm and pull him onto solid ground.
Once out of the water, the man was taken by ambulance to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates.
The officers' quick work earned praise from the department.
"It is an outstanding example of the type of work that is performed by members of the Hoffman Estates Police Department on a daily basis," Sgt. Michael Collins told the Daily Herald. "Their efforts do not go unappreciated, and they should be commended."
In the news release, Hoffman Estates firefighters urged people to avoid walking on frozen retention ponds because they're potentially dangerous.
The incident was the second ice rescue in the Northwest suburbs in less than 24 hours.
On Friday afternoon, a man fell through the ice on Lake Marie in Antioch while riding an all-terrain vehicle. He, too, was rescued by authorities and taken to a suburban hospital.
